Sydnee had had the cooks estimate the cost of the goods at the time they'd prepared the list, so she was ready when Captain Serwooth sent an invoice for the food to the Justice. She contacted him and requested he return her call in private. When he called, Sydnee could see he was in a small area, probably his office.
"I've reviewed the invoice, and I see that the prices you've quoted are about four times the cost of the food at wholesale."
"Captain, I assure you that the price is fair. We had to perform a lot of work to get the supplies out of the shipping containers. Everything had to be tracked down and then either brought up through access hatchways or the container had to be detached and brought to a maintenance bay so the end doors could be opened."
"I understand, Captain. And for what I've put you though, I'm adding an additional fifty percent over the amount you've requested."
"Fifty percent additional? You're not much of a businesswoman, Captain."
Sydnee smiled before saying, "No, I'm a military officer who is grateful that you were able to accommodate our needs and that we were able to conclude our business peacefully. Should you desire to do so, the extra money will allow you to give your crew a nice bonus for working so hard today."
"Thank you, Captain. I'm sure they'll appreciate that."
"If you wish to thank me, don't mention that we forced you to stop. Our situation is difficult enough in Clidepp Empire space. I don't want the diplomats getting involved and all worked up over this issue, then starting a small war. If you must identify us, just say that Captain Ahab of the Pequod needed food for the crew and beseeched you to sell us enough to last on our return voyage to the GA. You agreed to stop and sell us what we needed in a humanitarian gesture of good will towards a neighboring nation."
"Done, Captain. You contacted us and I agreed to help you out in a spirit of cooperation with a neighbor."
"Very good. Now allow me to take care of the accounting because I must account for every last credit I distribute from the ship's funds. I'm going to state the details of the transaction, and I would like you to also state the amount, date, and reason for the expenditure. This video will become part of the ship's log."
Sydnee stated the information, and Serwooth repeated and confirmed the transaction details.
"Very good, Captain. I'm going to place the GA credits into a sealed pouch and have one of my people attach it to the robot sled used to deliver the last food container. Once the sled has returned to the Diutomis and you've had a chance to count the credits, please confirm that you've received them and that our business is concluded. We'll then both be on our way."
When Captain Serwooth called again, he was smiling. "I'm very satisfied, Captain," he said. "I wish the Empire forces were as fair with freighters and as pleasant to work with as Space Command captains. I wish you and your crew aboard the Pequod a safe journey back to GA space. And I will do everything I can to keep this transaction a secret. Another war— or even just an unpleasant diplomatic squabble— would not be in the best interest of either freighters or the people of this nation. The war with the Rebels is causing enough problems and grief."
"Thank you, Captain. I wish you a swift and safe journey as well. Good-bye."
As both ships departed the area, Sydnee went on a tour of the ship. Everywhere she walked there were boxes and crates lining the walls and bulkheads from deck to overhead. Each item had a new code stamped on it indicating the location so the cooks would be able to find what they needed when they searched for supplies. There didn't seem to be a spare meter of space anywhere in the entire ship, but food would not be a problem for many months to come.
With the most important problem facing her command resolved— that of starvation— Sydnee could concentrate on other matters. As she returned to the bridge, an idea that had come to her while she and the Justice had been playing 'chicken' with the captain of the Diutomis began to replay and expand in her brain. With enough food now on board to allow the Justice to remain in the Yolongus solar system for up to five more months without anyone experiencing hunger, Sydnee was determined to recover the people housed at the embassy. And it would happen without allowing the Qummuc to see the shuttles leaving or even providing any proof they had ever been there.
* * *
Chapter Eighteen
~ March 10th, 2287 ~
Arriving back at what Sydnee had come to think of as their station, Sydnee sent a simple message to Blade. It read, 'We're back. Enough food for six months. We'll have you out before it becomes an issue again.'
She then began conducting a series of meetings with the former slaves and the Yolongi rescued from the planet. Everyone had been interviewed thoroughly after coming aboard the Justice, and she used those records now as her starting database. She picked the brains of each person to learn any tidbits of information that would later help her refine her plan. Sydnee knew that the former slaves and the Yolongi who had helped them trusted Anese implicitly and wouldn't hold back vital information if she were there, so she always had the leader from Sanctuary sit in on all meetings.
The interviews would consume weeks of time, but Sydnee was trying to acquire information the slaves might not even realize they knew. When the interviews were over, a database of slave information that might even surpass the database of the Qummuc in certain respects would reside in the Justice's computer system. The computer already contained the entire slave registration database, downloaded from the computer at the government facility where the slave auctions were held. Sydnee was adding a new subset that contained the name, basic physical description, and last known owner and location of every slave with whom each of the freed slaves could remember ever having had contact during their lifetime. An associated database contained the names and descriptions of every Aleoxlene Reqoppl contact person the former slaves had met, knew of, or had even heard of. Finally, the records also contained a list of all locations where slaves had been housed while awaiting processing or sale, the names and addresses of every slave owner, the slaves they owned, and every address where slaves had been assigned to work, both domestically and in factories. Sydnee pressed the people she interviewed to mention every fact they could remember and then asked them to return should they remember anything else afterward. She impressed upon them that even the smallest tidbits of information would be useful when the time came to end slavery in the Clidepp Empire because the completed database would contain not just information about the slaves on Yolongus, but also information about slavery on the home worlds of the Mydwuard and the Olimpood, and every other planet where former slaves aboard the Justice had worked or traveled to with their owners. Once the information had been collected, the computer system on the Justice was able to manipulate it to not only answer virtually any question that could be ascertained from the collected data, but the computer could also hypothesize innumerous other situations, including tactical choices for an attack.
* * *
"Have you read this report from our man aboard the freighter Diutomis?" Plelillo asked his two Triumvirate associates in a private meeting.
"The one where our undercover agent reported the freighter provided food to a Space Command vessel?" Danttan asked.
"Yes."
"Yes, I saw it."
"I didn't see it," Mewaffal said.
"A Mydwuard-registered vessel stopped in space and gave supplies to a tiny Space Command vessel."
"How tiny?" Mewaffal asked.
"Here, read it yourself," Plelillo said, sliding a viewpad across the conference table.
"So what?" Mewaffal said after reading the report from the agent. "They gave supplies to a space tug that was low on food. I see it was transporting eight small containers."
"So what?" Plelillo screamed. "So what? Are you brain dead? We have a freighter giving supplies to a ship from another nation that's operating inside our borders. And not just inside our border but more than eleven annuals of travel inside our border."
"It's not eleven annuals
of travel for Space Command vessels," Danttan said. "GA passenger liners are reported to be four times faster than our fastest civilian ships, and their military ships are reported to be at least four times faster than our fastest warships. In fact, we've been hearing unsubstantiated rumors that they've made enormous advances in light-speed travel. One report has even declared they've broken the theoretical boundaries of FTL through something they call double-envelope FTL. Space Command will neither admit its existence nor deny it."
"This was just a tiny, little, insignificant space tug," Mewaffal said. "A ship that could be swatted away by any of our warships. It wasn't even close to the size of their Scout-Destroyers, which are so small they don't even classify them as a warship in their military classification system. They wouldn't have put their best technology into such a nothing ship. If they had, it would simply have gone back and resupplied at the border."
"And the double-envelope nonsense is just propaganda intended to frighten anyone who is even considering fighting the GA."
"Meaning what exactly?" Danttan asked.
"Never underestimate the GA. We aren't talking about the Aguspod, who are morons compared to the GA. You say the GA would not have put their best technology into such a tiny ship. So you must believe the attack on us here had to come from a different ship— a warship. The burning questions then become: How many military ships do they have in our space? When are they going to attack us again, and in what strength? And, most importantly, how do they manage to hide from our planetary detection systems? We can identify the exact position of every one of our warships ringing the planet. Why can't we see the GA warship that's hiding out there?"
"Perhaps because there is no GA warship hiding out there to see," Danttan said.
"I've repeatedly said we can't fight the GA," Mewaffal said. "They are far too powerful. We rely on them not getting so angry with us that they decide to take over our nation. You spoke of having fear for the military ability of another nation. Well, I fear the military ability of the GA."
"The issue of who attacked us is already dying down as we work to restore power in the capital," Danttan said. "The issue has now become one of why they attacked and why they chose this way to attack us. Some people are blaming the Blenod, while others are blaming the Rebels. Some are also saying the Aleoxlene Reqoppl was behind it, and it's time to end slavery forever in the Empire. I've ordered my best people in my disinformation department to focus as much blame on the Rebels as possible because the attack has inconvenienced such a large part of the population. Early data-gathering by information agents has shown that people are accepting the Rebels as being responsible, and their anger with the Rebel cause is increasing."
"Don't be fooled by what people are saying aloud in public," Plelillo said. "They may believe the Rebels are responsible for the attacks, but they're blaming us for not protecting our planet."
* * *
"Sir," his first deputy said to the Rebel leader, "I've had all of our unit commanders contacting their people, and I've been able to ascertain with reasonable certainty that none of our units were responsible for the attack on the Yolongi capital. And— no one knows who is responsible."
"I believe I know who is responsible," the leader said from his relaxed position on a sofa.
"You do? Then why did you have me contacting people to find out if any of our people were responsible?"
"It was the only way I knew to verify my assessment was correct. There was always a chance I could be wrong and that some Rebel commander had taken it upon himself to attack the capital. If that was the case, we had to know because that act would alienate our followers and supporters. But now that we know it wasn't us, we can honestly deny it to all of our followers. And I'm reasonably certain I know who did attack the capital."
"You know who did it? How could you possibly know that? The Prime Minister has said even they don't yet know."
"I believe they know. It's really very simple. Whoever ordered the attack is incredibly powerful. They simultaneously brought the capital to its knees, destroyed the entire garrison at two separate Qummuc facilities, and did the same at a slave pen containing hundreds of slaves. And all without losing a man, apparently. To solve the riddle, all you have to do is ask yourself— who would steal slaves during a bombing attack? Do you realize how difficult it would be to transport hundreds of slaves through the streets without anyone seeing them? The first thing people do when their electric service fails is go outside to see if anyone else is without power. Combine that with explosions throughout the city and you know that virtually the entire population of the city was outside their homes or work locations. And yet, while people certainly heard the explosions, nobody saw or heard the attackers or the missing slaves.
"We know it had to be someone from outside the Empire because we are the only force within the Empire who could have managed something even close to this. So that leaves us with just five possibilities. The Aguspod and Kweedee are so busy with other problems that they haven't yet initiated any action against the Empire for the bombings in their nations. And the Blenod seem to be content with commandeering part of the Clidepp Empire along our common border. And none of these three could have pulled off an operation like this where there are absolutely no witnesses. That leaves just two other possibilities. The Raider organization is one. They have the people, the knowledge, and the support infrastructure to have done this, but it doesn't ring true because they're business partners with the Triumvirate. That leaves just one other possibility— the Galactic Alliance."
"The GA? But there's been no formal declaration of war."
"Yes, that's true. It appears the leadership in the GA has finally changed their policy about always alerting their adversary, or their enemies, of their plans in advance. Only idiots announce their attack plans in advance because it gives their adversary information they can use to prepare. It's about time they got smart."
"But if it's the GA, they may be intending to annex the Empire."
"That's not why they're here. If it were, Carver would have come here and issued ultimatums herself. No, I think they're just sending a message at this time. They don't want this part of space. They just want all of the Terran slaves released and returned to the GA."
"The Triumvirate will never agree to that."
"I know," he said with a smile.
"So what happens next?"
"We'll have to wait and see what the GA does. This should be interesting."
"But what if the GA decides to annex the Clidepp Empire?"
"Trust me, they won't."
* * *
"Captain?" Com Chief Lemela said when Sydnee entered the bridge the following morning for the watch change.
Sydnee stopped, then walked to the com station. "You're here early, Chief. What is it?"
"I relieved Chief Lasotta a little early. Yesterday I picked up a strange stream of radio communications from what appears to be a single source. I've been trying to decrypt it but haven't had any success."
"We know decryption isn't always possible, Chief."
"Yes, ma'am. But the strange thing about this transmission is its origin."
"Why is it strange?"
"It's strange because, according to all the charts, there's nothing out there in that direction— no planets, moons, or space stations."
"Then it must be coming from a ship."
"Yes, ma'am. But it hasn't moved. It's like us. It appears to be parked in a remote location where no space traffic is likely to encounter it."
"That is interesting. You say you've been monitoring it? How long?"
"I noticed it early yesterday. I was intrigued by the regularity of transmissions that weren't from a planet or a satellite, so I had the computer monitor it all night. In more than twenty hours, the source was broadcasting fairly regularly for about seventeen. Do you suppose someone else has seeded satellites in Clidepp space and we're picking up what they're rebroadcasting?"
"Are the transmissions in bu
rst mode?"
"No, ma'am. They seem more like normal conversations."
"And you believe you've got a reasonable fix on their bearing?"
"Uh, yes, ma'am. It's a reasonable fix— but may not be precise. I'd need help from the tactical officer for that."
"Maybe we'll go investigate after the watch begins. Keep monitoring them, Chief. Good work."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."
*
Once the first watch had reported in, Sydnee instructed the tactical officer to lock onto the radio transmission signal and forward a course to the helm so they could follow it to its source. The Justice then left its parked location and headed towards whatever was generating or relaying the signals.
After just a few seconds of travel, the helmsman said, "The signals have stopped, Captain."
"Chief, confirm."
"Confirmed, Captain. They've stopped broadcasting. At least for the moment."
"Continue on the previous heading, Helm."
"Aye, Captain."
"Captain," the Tac officer said, "I've got a small ship dead ahead on the DeTect system monitor."
"Helm, all stop."
"Aye, Captain, all forward progress is halted."
"Tac, can you identify the ship?"
"Based on size and assumed configuration, it appears to be a space yacht, Captain," Templeton said.
"Assumed configuration?"
"At four billion kilometers, we're still too far away for more detailed images of such a small ship. I'm basing the assumption on apparent size alone."
"That's not always a good indication of lethality, as is proved by our small size," Sydnee said with a grin, "but let's assume that for now. If it is a space yacht, we have to wonder what a space yacht is doing this far out while transmitting to someone on the planet when they could just as easily go to the planet. They can't simply be broken down or someone would have arrived to tow them to Yolongus long before now."
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